In the 1970's consumers brains were hit by about 500 advertising or brand messages a day....today it's more like 5000 a day, that's over 5 a minute!
That’s crazy! How on earth do we absorb that amount of information?
We can, because we have a massive microprocessor called a brain that subliminally manages all of these messages, filing them away, filtering them out or, if deemed important, stopping us in our tracks and making us aware of them.
What you are going to have to do is find some way to stand out from the crowd and capture a prospects attention and you are going to have to do it quickly.
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While we are talking averages, did you also know that the average time spent on a website is just six seconds?
Not only are you going to have to get through all of the other 5000 messages you also have to engage within the first few seconds.
Once you have captured attention for long enough that you can “sell,” you are now up against the prospects own internal defences. Many people refer to this as gut instinct.
The thing is, it has nothing to do with our gut and everything to do with the part of our brain that likes to keep us safe.
The amygdala, or as Seth Godin calls it your ‘lizard brain’, is a small almond shaped bit in the back of your brain that can be defined as your ‘fear centre’. Its primary role is processing memories and emotional reactions. It is an early warning detector, constantly checking our environment for anything that might harm us.
As a memory bank, your amygdala will recall if you have had a bad experience before and these memories will be recovered and attached to the current situation. The amygdala will start shouting at you, “Warning, you got hurt before, be careful, don’t trust them, you remember what happened last time…”
It’s the primary reason why none of us like to be sold to, and why no one likes selling. Its the reason “selling” has such a bad name. Selling or being sold to makes us feel uncomfortable because the lizard brain is yelling and screaming at us to run for the hills.
As a service provider or consultant, you are selling you. Your expertise, your knowledge, your skills, your commitment and your personality. What your prospects are asking themselves is, “Can I see myself working with you”. You need to find some way to connect with them, on an emotional level, communicating with the lizard brain so it will relax its defences and instead of filtering you out, it stops your prospect and makes them take notice.
As a service provider or consultant, you are selling you.
If you are struggling to stand out from the competition and attract lots of perfect customers, it’s probably because you are failing to communicate your point of difference on the right frequency. You are probably telling the world what you do and how you do it, but not WHY you do it. You are using an old fashioned way of “selling”. I’d like to introduce you to a more modern and more natural way to “sell yourself”.
The first step in marketing is to discover what is at the core of your business, your brand essence. Every single time I begin a marketing strategy with someone I ask the same question “So what makes you so different?”. It’s the starting point to finding your “True North”. Discovering what makes you unique so you have clarity on the right direction to take with your marketing.
You can find out how to discover your True North and develop a compelling, cut through Core Message in this guidebook which is FREE until 5pm September 11th. CLICK HERE for more info.